Compound car-wheel.



H. EITHLEY'.

com? CAR WHEEL. L| CAT|0N FILED MAY12|191| RENEWED .IAN.9,191

APP 1,149,267. Pate Aug.10,1915.

'srn'jrns rainer cierren HERBERT R. KEITHLEY, F KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

COMPOUND CAR-WHEEL.

amener.,

Specification of Letters Patent. y Pimienta@ Aug 10, i915, i

Original application led Apri1-26, 1909, Serial N'o. 492,323. Divided and this application filed May 12, 1911, Serial No. 626,668. Renewed January 9, 1915. Serial No.- 1,456.

To aZZ whom il. may concern.'

Be it known that I, HERBERT R'. KiiiTH- Lnr, a citizen of the United States, residing Aat Kansas Cityacounty of Jackson, State of Missouri, .have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Compound Car- Wheels, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art .to which it pertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompaiiying drawings, which form a part of The object 'of tliis invention is toi-produce a car wheelinwhichthe body portion, comprising'thehub andlweband a part-of .the

inner portion of the rim,shall' be made ofbe made of high carbon hard steel, or aliard steel alloy, preferably of manganese steel having above '6% content offmanganese-` and which shall differ greatly in carbon content, or in metallic composition, from thatof the low carbon soft steel forming the bodypo'rf'k -tion, and possesses properties of intensehardness and great resistance to abrasion and wear. The various featuresof novelty whereby my invention ischaracterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its object and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein: Figure 1 is a 'central transverse section showing the cast blank from which my improved wheel is made in position in the forging dies for reducing the blank to the shape ofthe car wheel; Fig. 2 is a section similar to Fig. 1, showing'the dies closed; Fig. 3 is a side view of one half of the completed wheeln; and Fig. 4 is a central transverse section' through the wheel.

The irst step in the production of n iy improved wheel is the formation of a suitable cast blank having portions of hard steel and of soft steel united by casting and arranged in such a way as to permit the blank to be forged into the shape of a car wheel with the soft and hard portions distributed in the proper manner. The blank wearing body of the rimy and iiaiige of a -car 110 .i

-nular which I prefer to use is preferably one produced in a specially constructedmold as ex- .an annular ringwhich becomes the rim of the blank, and the soft steel being then poured on top of the hard steel, completing therim and forming the center of the blank.

After the blank is removed from the mold y and the riser is discarded, it has the form shown in Fig. l; there being a rudimentary hub 1, on one side of the web 2, and an anflange or rim 3 projecting laterally from the web along the dge thereof. The hub member andthe web member arel of` soft steel and the annular rim or iiange 3 lying belownthe dotted line 4: is'made of y .hard steel.

i The riseris preferably removed by punchL ing out the central portion of the hub thereby discarding the pipe and segregations which concentrate toward thecenter of the lcasting and rise tothe 'top of the fiuid steel as the metal solidiiies in the mold.

When the blank is placed between forging dies such as indicated at 5 and 6, and thegdies are closed, the hard steel of the rim portion 3 is Icaused to iiow under the presthe wheel soas tofform the wearing body portion of the wheel rim 7 and of the Harige 8, fas indicated in Figs. 2 and 4; and the soft steel, integrally united with the hard steel in the rim, isvcaused to iow under the pressure f the dies so as to form the inner portion of the wheelrim and a'backing for the wearingl body of the iange as indicated by the area 9 lying above the dotted line 10 in Figs. 2 and 4. Consequently the wearing faces of the rim and of the flange are composed of steel, of intense hardness whichoii'ers great resistance to abrasion and wear, and lthey are backed and integrally united with a mass of soft tough steel which possesses great .strength 'and offers great resistance to stresses from shock.

The use -of manganese steel containing above six per cent. of manganese is made available by'this method for forming the sure of the dies to the' outer periphery of can be made tough and'ductile, while still retaining its intense hardness, by sudden cooling from a high temperature, by quench- I ing. lVhereas, other hard steels are rendered brittle by the same treatment. However, it is obvious that other high carbon steel or steel alloys may be used for this purpose Without departing from the scope of my invention, as set forth in the claims.

In all steel Wheels at present produced by forging the Wheelinto shape, the carbon content and composition of metal is uniform throughout, from the hub to the rim, and on accountA of its softness and rapid wear in service the Wheel rim is made very heavy to allovv for Wear and for restoring the proper contour to the tread and flange by turning the ivlieel'in a lathe. This involves greater first cost'for extra metal in the wheel rinl and further expense in repairs and maintenance for Wrought steel wheels of this type. lllhereas, in a car wheel produced according vto my invention the wearing body of the wheel rim can be made much lighter, and

the composition of metal can be madesuch that maximum service can be obtained with greatly reduced vvear.

In-a car Wheel produced.according to my invention the metal may be. subjected to heat-treat1nent,if required.V after the Wheel is forged into shape, or the cast blank may be heat-treated before it is forged, or both the cast blank and the forged wheel maybe heat-treated if desired. i

The carbon content of the relatively' low carbon soft steel forming the web and hub portions of the cast blank,of the wheel, can be so proportioned'that heat-treatment .with air cooling.v ivater or other quenching found adapted to both the hard steel rim and the soft steel body portion can be used, this being one of the important advantages of=my invention` y I claim: Y i 1 1. As an article of manufacture a carwheel having its body portion, consisting. of the hub, the iveb and inner portion of the rim, composed of lo\v carbon Ysoft steel, and having formed therewith, by forging. a Wearing rim and flange portion composed of relatively high carbon hard steel, -said soft metal body portion and hard metal rim and flange portion being unitedintegrally in one body of metal by casting. f

2. As an artlcle of manufacture -a carwheel having its bodyportion. consisting of Copies of this patent may be obtained for the hub, the web and inner portion of the rim, -compoesd of low carbon soft steel, and having formed therewith, by forging, a Wearing rim and flange portion composed of a hard steel alloy, said soft steel body por tion and hard steel rim and flange portion being united integrally in one body of metal by casting.

ing united integrally in one body of metal by casting.

l. As an article of manufacture, a car wheel having its body portion, consisting of the hub. the webthe inner portion of the rim and the back of the flange, composed of loiv carbon soft steel. and having formed therewith by forging. a Wearing rim portion and a )vearing flange portion composed of relatively high carbon hard steel, said soft metal body portion and hard metal rim and flan-ge portion being united integrally in one body of metal by casting.

5. A car wheel of soft steel having the center of low carbon soft steel and having wearing portions of the flange and rim formed of high carbon steel, the soft steel portion extending outwardly into the flange beyond the tread portion of the rim.

6; A car yvheel having its body portionf consisting of the hub. the web, and a continuation of the web through the rim and into the flange composed of lou' carbon soft steel, and havinga ring of hard steel lying beside and integrally united with the soft steel to complete the rim and the flange.

within the space bounded by said surface beingsubstantially homogeneous and the body of hard metal outside of said surface being also substantially homogeneous.

In testimony '\vhereof, I sign this specification in the presence of t\vo witnesses.

l HERBERT R. KEITHLEY. lllitnesses WM. F. FREDENREICH, RUBY V. BRYDGES.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patenti. Washington, D. C. 

